


dilemmas and guy friendship

by Diary



Category: Scandal (TV)
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Background Relationships, Bechdel Test Fail, Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Canon Queer Character, Dark Character, Dark Comedy, Gen, Male Friendship, Minor Charlie/Quinn Perkins, Minor Cyrus Beene/James Novak, Multi, POV Charlie (Scandal), POV Male Character, Season/Series 05, Sex Talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 14:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6708577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To Tom’s credit and Charlie’s mild frustration, Tom doesn’t pretend like he doesn’t understand. Complete.</p>
            </blockquote>





	dilemmas and guy friendship

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Scandal.

Charlie hates these dilemmas.

“Just so I’m clear, Chief, you want me to get information on a Secret Service agent?”

Of course, the one agent Cyrus Beene wants info on is the one freaking B6-13 agent Command would kill anyone for compromising. Larsen has never been in the hole, has never felt Charlie’s fists, and is literal inches away from the pres. on a daily basis. Everyone calls him Command’s Golden Boy.

Charlie would find him interesting if he ever showed any sort of sign of being a person rather than a mindless robot.

“Yes,” Cyrus answers. “Tom Larsen is hiding something. No one is that much of a strait-laced milquetoast.”

Laughing, Charlie doesn’t answer, _Well, you’re in the unique position of being absolutely right and completely wrong. He’s a super-spy with a few decent kills under his belt, but other than that, he really is a bland, boring yes man._

“Right,” he says. “I’m on it.”

…

Sitting down on the park bench, Larsen says, “You better have a good reason for contacting me, Charlie.”

Scoffing, he finishes his pastry. “You know I wouldn’t if I didn’t. Not to say you messed up, but somehow, you’re on the radar. Cyrus Beene wants info on you.”

Tom takes this in. “What do you know about James Novak?”

“His fiancé? Not much. Civilian, journalist, they’re sickeningly lovey-dovey. Gonna kill him?”

“I only kill civilians if I get a direct order from Command,” Tom answers.

Of course, is his sardonic thought. But for all your mindless compliance, showing initiative has never been a problem.

Despite this, he’s a little surprised Tom apparently isn’t going to run to Command, but Tom not means Charlie doesn’t risk losing one of his best outside contractors.

“What’s the plan, then?”

“Define ‘sickeningly lovey-dovey’.”

“If you’re thinking honey trap, it won’t work,” Charlie tells him. “For either of them. They’re devoted, pal.”

There’s a stretch of silence, and just when Charlie is starting to get antsy, Tom says, “Here’s what you do: Wait two days, and when you met him, say something along the lines of, ‘Given certain things, I’m not sure how comfortable you’d be hearing this.’”

“Okay,” Charlie doubtfully says. “But- The chief is ruthless. There isn’t much he won’t be comfortable hearing. Look, you handle this however you think best, but I do need to know what exactly the plan is. I know you don’t care if I get screwed over, but on the side of things you might care about: I could accidentally screw everything up if I don’t have enough information to operate on.”

“He wasn’t open about his sexuality for over forty years. He’s used the homosexuality of other men and women as blackmail material before, but I don’t think he’s going to care enough to try to use this against a Secret Service agent. If he does, I’ll handle it in the future.”

“You’re going to play closeted?”

“It’ll give him what he wants and keep me in the clear.”

“True,” Charlie agrees.

Grudgingly, he’ll admit this is a clever idea he wouldn’t have thought of himself. Tom’s always struck him as, well, having as much interest in sex as a robot would, but to outsiders: An overly-serious, reserved young man who never shows interest in anyone could easily fall ambiguously between too shy and work-devoted or secretly gay.

“Alright,” he says, “but if you want my advice, don’t try making a move on Cyrus or Novak.”

“Understood.”

Standing up, a thought hits Charlie. Hesitating, he sits back down. “Sexuality is fluid, yada, but what happens if you ever find a girl? I don’t mean a quick screw, I mean someone you actually like.”

“No relationships,” Tom answers.

“Right,” he says.

If he’s honest, he’d wanted the nickname of Spinster to apply more than it ever actually did.

It’d fit more towards Tom.    

He can’t say really what he feels towards Spin. He’s glad Spin seems to be doing well with the fixer who got him out, and he hopes, when it’s time to go, Spin is the one behind the trigger.

There’ve been less-than-straight and/or gender-conforming B6-13 agents, and if they were good at their job, he hasn’t cared. If they weren’t, he took the same pleasure in hitting them and suggesting the hole as he did any of the others.

People like Command and his golden boy have always secretly made him somewhat uneasy. It just isn’t something he can comprehend: having no real emotional attachment to anyone.

Standing up, Tom repeats, “Two days.”

…

“You might have been right, Chief, but I’m not sure if what I’ve found is what you had in mind. See, Tommy boy- not one to judge, especially what with freely admitting I go much for more extreme and kinky than Mister Soy Vanilla Lite, but his porn habits suggest a distinct lack of going for the fairer sex. Now, if he’s ever had a boyfriend or even just a quickie in a trashy hotel, I haven’t been able to find it, yet, but he does have a habit of discreetly checking men out while off-duty. If you want me to go deeper, I will, but to be honest, I really don’t think there’s anything else there.”

Cyrus sighs. “Well, this was a waste of both of our times in more way than one. I was sure there was- Nothing else?”

Guessing Tom somehow managed to get Cyrus to believe he’d already figured out what Charlie’s telling him now, Charlie decides to add in some actual facts the chief likely doesn’t know. “From what I can tell, he’s gunning for the position of Coordinator of the Secret Service. Not sure if this related to the above or not, but he’s interested in Greek mythology. His diet is appalling: On occasion, he’ll have some red meat, but otherwise, it’s all lean meat, tons of veggies, moderate fruit. No sweets, alcohol, or caffeine. When he’s not finishing work at home or working out, there’s this TV channel that plays nothing but soft rock. He’ll listen to it while he reads or plays card games.”

“Thank you, Charlie,” Cyrus says.

“Want me to try to dig up any past men?”

“No. I’ve already spent too much money on someone who is very unlikely to ever have any personal significance to me or my job.”

Letting out a breath of relief, Charlie nods. “If you have something more exciting for me, I’d be willing to bundle this job with it and absorb the cost of it, just take the money from the more exciting one.”

“No, the money will be in your account tomorrow. Take care, Charlie.”

“You, too, Chief.”

…

Years later, Tom practically stumbles into the café they agreed to meet at and immediately says, “Sorry, I’m late.”

Charlie stares.

Tom’s lips are slightly swollen and redder than normal, his non-gelled hair is close to approaching messy, and while his eyes aren’t wild and they’ve always been alert, they’re more- engaged, now, Charlie supposes.

Going on instinct, he reaches under the table and pokes one of Tom’s knees.

Giving a subtle wince, Tom kicks him.

Laughing, he pours some more coffee into his sugar. “Even when it comes to you, everything always ends up being a self-portrait, doesn’t it?”

To Tom’s credit and Charlie’s mild frustration, Tom doesn’t pretend like he doesn’t understand.

“Seriously, though, this finally makes you interesting. Are you just finally getting stuff you never let yourself have, or is this serious? Also, here’s a tip, something Robin taught me that I wish I’d known years ago: You can go down without literally getting on your knees.”

This time, Tom’s kick is barely short of breaking bones and/or drawing blood.

Looking around, Tom quietly says, “Both is the answer to your question, and I’m not sure what it says about either of us that I’ve always known that but you had to be told by the first serious girlfriend you’ve ever had.”

Delighted, Charlie says, “Oh, snap. Hey, if you prefer it that way or he does, to each their own. Personally, though, Robin’s got killer thighs, and having them pressed against my head and knowing they could literally be killer thighs-”

Almost falling off the chair at the next kick, Charlie realises he’d better change the subject before Tom decides to have him taken off the payroll or, worse, call Robin.

If he can’t go with Spin behind the trigger, he wouldn’t complain about having to go by way of Robin’s legs around his neck, but he has a feeling, in this instance, she’d just go for her gun or toss the radio into the bath with him.

They talk about the next step in Cyrus’s plans and how, given recent events (“Shut up, Charlie.”), Tom is going to be taking a little more initiative in certain things. If Cyrus tells him to kill Alex Vargas, again, he’s to tell Tom and still not kill Alex Vargas while Tom smooths things over, because, no, Tom doesn’t have any objections to Vargas junior dying, but him dying right now would severely hurt the mission’s chances of succeeding.

For reasons he can’t fathom, his guesses and suggestions at how Tom might smooth thing over leaves him with even more bruises on his leg.

Once everything’s talked out, Charlie says, “Hey. Uh, don’t kick me. I’m not very good at the serious, heart-to-heart shtick, but genuinely curious: Were you really- did you always want something more with someone, or is this just a weird thing that happened and you decided not to fight it? Did you try to fight it? The reason Command liked me was for my sadism and killer sense of humour. The reason you were his golden boy was because, just like him, you didn’t ever get attached. Was that real, or an act?”

“You’re a little off,” Tom tells him. “Remember the one you called Khaleesi?”

“Oh, yeah. Shame what happened to her, but I guess nature’s gonna strike where it’s gonna strike, huh? Always thought she might literally make herself empress of a country someday.”

“She was a genuine sociopath, unable to form any sort of emotional attachment. Command and I are good at compartmentalising our attachments. If you’re asking for a label on my sexual orientation, I honestly don’t know. If I’d let myself, I would have wanted Cyrus a long time ago. It’s better this way, though. A long time ago, he never would have wanted me.”

Looking back, Charlie acknowledges the point.

“So, uh, if Command ever reassembles the team?”

“He tried to kill me. I was loyal, I was quiet, I was prepared to stay in that prison for the rest of my life, and he still tried to kill me. Cyrus might someday, but at least, with him, I’ve gotten to experience new and wonderful things.”

From Robin, he knows there might be a little bit of revisionist history going on. Only Command and Tom will ever truly know, but apparently, Tom was ready to work with New Command to help bring Old Command down in order to save himself.

More importantly, though, he concretely knows neither Command tried to kill Tom. The stabbing was all Command Girl junior’s doing.

Charlie hates these dilemmas.

Screw it, he decides. If he ever needs to, he can tell Tom and fudge when exactly he found out this information. For right now, though, he and Spin still have too many issues Spin refuses to try to work out beyond ‘torture and/or try to kill Charlie’, he’s gotten better but there are times when he still doesn’t “show his attachment in healthy ways” when it comes to Robin, and with Tom no longer being a robot, it’s nice to have a guy friend. Part of being a friend means encouraging healthier relationships, he’s pretty sure, and Tom’s undeniably happier with Cyrus than he ever was working for B6-13.

“Yeah, I’m not saying this for hundred percent sure, but we’re probably in the same boat. In the end, Robin’s always going to choose OPA, and I just might choose her over what I used to know.” Standing up, he offers his hand to Tom. “Same time next week?”

Taking the hand and letting himself be pulled up, Tom nods. “Same time next week.”


End file.
